Saturday, November 26, 2016

Fires Continue Throughout Israel, 'Terror Attacks' Suspected,

Fires continued to smolder in some parts of Israel on Saturday, after a day of massive blazes on Friday brought devastation to the West Bank settlement of Halamish and areas of the Jerusalem hills.

The newly arrived US supertanker, considered the largest firefighting aircraft in the world, joined the emergency operation on Saturday afternoon, beginning with the fires burning in the Jerusalem hills, where firefighters have been struggling to contain the flames since Tuesday.

The main highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Route 1, was shut briefly on Saturday afternoon between the Sha’ar Hagai and Horesh interchanges, as the massive plane went into action.

In Halamish, a blaze that was brought under control in earlier in the day rekindled in three different locations on Saturday afternoon. The fire left 15 homes totally gutted overnight and more than two dozen others with varying degrees of damage, and forced the hundreds of residents to evacuate. Surveying the scene Saturday morning, local residents vowed to rebuild, even as firefighters worked to put out the last of the flames.

Israelis hoped Saturday that the worst of the fires — some of which are believed to have been started deliberately — were behind them. But dry weather and strong winds have played a major part in the spread of the flames, and rain was not forecast for several more days.

Blazes were also reported near the West Bank settlements of Dolev, Alfei Menashe and Karnei Shomron, although there were no evacuations there. In northern Israel, firefighters on Saturday brought under control a fire that broke out at the Harashim community in the Galilee, and residents were allowed to return to their homes.

Near the northern city of Nazareth Illit, six firefighting teams were working Saturday afternoon to extinguish a fire that broke out in the Churchill Forest, the Ynet news website reported. Over the past 24 hours there were five fires in the forest.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich said Friday night that investigators know who set fire to the woods near Nataf, and that authorities “were prepared to thwart” those involved through “deterrence and catching suspects, through observers and patrols in the sky and on land.”

“These are very simple terror attacks,” he told Army Radio. “Generally the attackers themselves know about it only a few minutes beforehand, so we can’t make preventative arrests.”

Authorities said they had arrested 15 people on suspicion of negligence or deliberately starting fires around the country, without providing many details on their identities. Some politicians have pointed the finger at members of the Arab community, saying the fires were started on purpose in nationalistic acts of terror.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday there was “no doubt” some of the fires had been deliberate. “There is a price to pay for the crimes committed, there is a price to pay for arson terrorism,” he said.

Large brush fires swept across hills outside Jerusalem, after Israeli police detained arson suspects following days of severe blazes in the country.

Residents of towns in the Jerusalem Mountains were evacuated on Friday while dozens of houses were burned down. Israel accepted offers of firefighting help from Egypt and Jordan and police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted a picture of Palestinian firefighters working alongside their Israeli counterparts in the city of Haifa.

Fires have forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes in the past four days, with officials saying many began almost simultaneously and were probably due to arson. Israeli police chief Roni Alsheich on Thursday said that where arson was the cause, it was likely “nationalist,” a phrase authorities use to describe attacks by Arabs. Police said they have arrested 13 people for suspected arson or incitement to start fires.

While several blazes are now largely under control, firefighters fear that strong winds could reignite them. The fires are the worst to hit Israel since 2010 when 42 people died in a forest region south of Haifa.

“I’ve accepted the offer of help in putting out the fires from Egypt and Jordan,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Twitter. “Egypt will send two firefighting helicopters and Jordan will send fire trucks.”

They will join vehicles sent by the Palestinian Authority and aircraft from Russia, Cyprus, Turkey, Croatia and Greece already battling the flames. A massive Supertanker firefighting plane from the U.S. arrived late on Friday, according to Channel 2.

Israeli security forces arrested 10 Palestinians in recent days on suspicion of arson, as firefighters battle a wave of fires across the country.

The detainees include three people arrested overnight Friday-Saturday in a car near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Ynet news website reported. Full and empty canisters of gasoline, rags, gloves and lighters were found in the vehicle.

Another suspect detained Saturday was identified by an official from the Israel Parks and Nature Authority as the person who set fire to brush near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich said Friday night that investigators know who set a fire massive blaze in the woods on the Jerusalem hills near Nataf, which also spread to other communities. He said the authorities “were prepared to thwart” those involved through “deterrence and catching suspects, through observers and patrols in the sky and on land.”

“These are very simple terror attacks,” he told Army Radio. “Generally the attackers themselves know about it only a few minutes beforehand, so we can’t make preventative arrests.”

The IDF and police captured a suspect that was sighted by a Nature and Parks Authority worker starting a fire in the north-western Etzion region.

The suspect was handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for investigation.

The IDF spokesperson's unit stated that during the night an IDF force near Dir Kaddis in the Ephraim region captured three suspects in a vehicle that had two full bottles of fuel, one empty bottle of fuel, a sack with fabric, gloves and lighters.

The IDF spokesperson's unit delivered a messaged stating that "the IDF is continuing specific activity to locate arsonists."

Over the last few days, special efforts were made by the Judea and Samaria forces in coordination with the Shin Bet to locate and arrest suspected arsonists.

Since the start of the flames on Tuesday, 13 people have been arrested with connections to arson according to the police.

The West Bank settlement of Halamish was a scene of devastation Saturday morning, as teams of firefighters worked to quell a fire that hit dozens of homes and led to the evacuation of the entire population.

Two Palestinians were arrested Saturday morning on suspicion of starting the fire that broke out late Friday. The two were taken in for questioning and later released, the Walla website reported.

At least 15 homes were completely burned and another 25 suffered fire damage. Three Palestinian firefighters from Ramallah joined their Israeli counterparts to help battle the blaze.

Multiple teams of firefighters and firefighting planes had rushed to the settlement late Friday night, as some 350 families were evacuated when power lines caught alight. Two residents and two firefighters were lightly injured.

Assaf Abras, a spokesman for the local fire service, told the Ynet website as dawn broke Saturday that many homes were completely gutted.

“It was hard to see — houses collapsed and burning in a domino effect,” he said. “My heart goes out to the residents.”

He continued: “There was an inferno here. I have been a firefighter for 23 years, I was at the Carmel disaster [in 2010], but I have never seen a week like this. There was genuine fear here.”

Ehud Amiton, a resident of Halamish, told Ynet: “We are all filled with appreciation for the firefighters who risked their lives among flames in a tight race to salvage homes and property. This is just the initial stage, and the fire is not yet over. Firefighters are still working after a very long night.”

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